A feature of a cellular telephone is its storage of call related information, such as Caller ID data, associated with incoming or outgoing telephone calls. A particular operation facilitated by this feature is the ability to easily return a missed telephone call. For example, when a telephone call is missed, the operator may be able to locate the number of the missed call, and then press a single button to initiate a return call.
A drawback of the above described operation is that the user of the cellular telephone may incur fees associated with the placement of the return call, or may use up minutes associated with a particular billing plan. This is problematic, particularly when the user is proximate to a PSTN-based telephone, such as a conventional wired telephone or a cordless telephone. Alternatively, the user may elect to locate the return telephone number on the cellular telephone, and then place the return telephone call by dialing the return telephone number on the user's PSTN-based telephone. Surprisingly, it may be perceived as too much of a hassle for the user to actually dial the return telephone number, in which case the user may elect to take the simplest route by returning the call via the cellular telephone.
There is a need, therefore, for a simplified process whereby the user can easily return the telephone call received via a cellular telephone by employing a proximate PSTN-based telephone.
Similarly, the advantageous route may not be to return the call via a PSTN-based telephone, but to instead return the call via another cellular telephone. For example, if a married couple has two telephones, and one of them has used up most of its time allocation for the month, it may be preferred to return an incoming telephone call received on the one telephone by using the other telephone. As another example, if two business associates are meeting, and one receives an incoming call on a cellular telephone that is roaming, it may be preferred to return the incoming call from the other's non-roaming cellular telephone. In these cases, a simplified process is needed to facilitate this advantageous operation.